Hi guys and gals, i i've been thinking about buying an additional one twelve cab for my blues deluxe. But i had a brainwave about upgrading to a fender twin. Preferably one that i can knock down to 25w with onboard tremolo. But from what i've read they weigh an absolute ton. I used to honk around a 2x12 TSL combo and cab. And the combo did weigh a fair bit, does a Twin weigh even more.

thanks mate, yeah ive read they are very very loud. But i wanted one i could knock down to 25w. But to be honest, i may aswell look for a 20-30w amp instead. I imagine the huge transformers and jensens add to the weight. I read somewhere that a twin is 185w rms? Ive seen one on ebay pretty cheap, but the idea of honking something that large around would do my nut in. Still if im looking at an extension cab then maybe im making a rod for my own back? Ahh GAS sucks so bad sometimes!_________________Surpass today, what you were yesterday- Musashi

There are many variations of the Fender Twin and they're all too heavy and to my ears a bit sterile sounding.

The 45 watt Fender Pro Reverb is a nice amp and can be bought for a lot less than a Twin. 11 lbs lighter than a Twin and a tube rectifier (all Twins have solid state rectifier), tube driven tremolo and reverb drive and recovery. Best value are 1971 (after Fender put the circuitry back to near the original blackface design) to 1974 (before Fender changed it completely). With the one I have, I can get a nice crunch around 5 to 6 on the volume (depending on what's plugged in) without going deaf

There are many variations of the Fender Twin and they're all too heavy and to my ears a bit sterile sounding.

The 45 watt Fender Pro Reverb is a nice amp and can be bought for a lot less than a Twin. 11 lbs lighter than a Twin and a tube rectifier (all Twins have solid state rectifier), tube driven tremolo and reverb drive and recovery. Best value are 1971 (after Fender put the circuitry back to near the original blackface design) to 1974 (before Fender changed it completely). With the one I have, I can get a nice crunch around 5 to 6 on the volume (depending on what's plugged in) without going deaf

AFAIK the Twin never got any higher than 105w with the 1982 Twin Reverb 2 and 135w with the late 70s Silverface (REALLY F'N LOUD!!!!). The early tweed and blonde twins were 25w 50w and 80w. The power went up with more valves, 6L6 vs 5881 and different bias arrangements.

I bet somebody got 185w out of a Twin by pushing it heavily into class B operation instead of class AB. This goes against the conventional wisdom of using as much class A power for guitar amps as possible.

You're not thinking of the Fender Pro 185? This is 185w solid state, and a nice powerful clean amp, but not the same type of thing as a Twin.

There's also the '65 Reissue from 1992 which was 85w and uses a PCB._________________Totally biased towards Japanese made guitars.

I gigged an 80's 'red knob' twin for a while and to be honest it was too loud even when the half-power switch was in. It had castors but the weight was terrible, compounded by only having a top-mounted handle. Reliability with hot tubes under a PCB wasn't great either. Did sound mighty fine with a Tele though...

If you want a bit more 'spread' without an extra cab, maybe the Fender Deville 2x12 or Peavey Classic 50 (brilliant clean sound at reasonable volume)?

?300 seemed cheap to me. Although adding the cost of petrol from bristol to kingston. And then if it needs work, another ?100-150. All to have something that is far too loud for anything im ever going to use it for! And from what ive read on other forums the red knobs arent supposed to be that great.

I probably was thinking of the 185 model knowing me

That pro reverb does look lovely!

I havent even considered a Peavey classic, i tried out a valve king combo. And to be frank that sounded horrible, a really thin waspy clean channel. But then the hot rod deluxe is a different animal to the blues deluxe, which is why the blues surprised me so much!

basically a friend of mine has just bought a brand new dual rectifier. And whilst we have different tastes in terms of tone. I can't deny thats its an impressive piece of kit. The build quality and general sound of it, is far better than my old TSL. Should i consider mesa?

Basically i want something that is a fairly low powered 2x12 combo. The less dials and switches the better, im trying to keep it simple these days!

This did grab my attention though http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/peavey-delta-blues-210-bt/449
i know its 2x10s, ive never played through 10's, whats the overall difference? In my experience i've played with bassists, who have a 1x15 and a 4x10 cab? So i'd expect them to accent the high end more_________________Surpass today, what you were yesterday- Musashi

Basically i want something that is a fairly low powered 2x12 combo. The less dials and switches the better, im trying to keep it simple these days!

Just try out as many as you can. If you can borrow for a gig/practise then all the better, but you do need to crank stuff up to get an idea of the 'real' sound. There's a reasonable amount of choice in the low-powered 2x12 area - go with what works for you

Do'nt touch a twin too heavy too loud as said.
(being there done that)
A 2x12 will be heavy too, if you need to push air consider a head and cab.
A 1X12 combo 30 watts or so is fine
(with the highest quality speaker you can afford it makes
a huge difference) never was a fan of 10" speakers

A 1X12 combo 30 watts or so is fine
(with the highest quality speaker you can afford it makes
a huge difference) never was a fan of 10" speakers

Neither was I till I got my Vibroverb 63RI - the 2 10s seems to have something that the 1 12 in my Blues Deluxe doesn't have.

Once I start playing regularly at the Royal Albert Hall ( ) I might consider getting a Twin, but not until then. Though lots of visiting US blues players have sounded great at small London venues (like The 100 Club) through what I assume were hired Twins.

The Roland JC-120 was another popular amp that used to be requested on touring artists' riders, especially guitarists from Africa. I'd have the Twin if I had a choice and didn't have to schlep it to the (preferably huge) stage

Thanks again guys, i mean its basically me being silly i guess. You know what its like, when one of your guitar playing friends gets a new toy. I think thats what happened to me with my friend and his new Mesa. Incidentally he's not too happy with the lead tone on the amp, after comparing it to his dads mesa mrk4
I may do a bit of testing at some guitar stores and see what else is around. But i think if i can pick up a cheap extension cab that might be the problem solved! I dont really want to spend more than ?1300 to be honest. And then i need to raise funds to do that!
I used to play through a 4x12 set up, and i guess im just used to that big sound. It used to help with lower frequency's, and i think overdriven tone sounds better through that set up, especially sounds like fuzz etc. But i dont like the idea of carting around a giant cab. And tbh for the gigs i play, i've never had the need to use a 100w amp. And the majority of the time at larger gigs, your mic'd up anyway. I personally think the 100w thing is a male thing.
Yeah i think another factor of it, is the fact when ever you see US blues players over here, its usually through rented twins. I still need to get into my head, that having robben ford's guitars, cables, amps, effects etc etc doesnt mean that you will sound like ROBBEN!
It must be a guitarist thing. Is it me, or does anyone else find it slightly bizarre at how commercial and ingrained the guitar is in popular culture?? I mean we are suckers for names and logos arent we.

When my old sax guy got his sax stolen one day. We went to the pub afterwards and we got chatting, and i think the most expensive sax you can get is a selmer. And that was ?3-5k. I then showed him a 59 les paul sunburst on ebay for ?60k (was probably more)_________________Surpass today, what you were yesterday- Musashi